Minister's husband helped fund Labour's Jones

Labour MP Shane Jones' party leadership bid was part-funded
by a cash donation from Sir Wira Gardiner, husband of
National Party Cabinet minister Hekia Parata.

Mr Jones revealed to the Herald that Sir Wira gave $1000 and
NZ Oil and Gas board member Rodger Finlay also donated money
to help the MP to pay for his campaign to win the Labour
leadership last September.

Ms Parata did not learn about the donation until last night.

Sir Wira told the Herald he was still a "paid-up Tory", but
wanted to encourage Maori leadership.

Mr Jones said both men approached him offering donations,
which were to have remained confidential until it was
realised that donations of more than $500 had to be revealed
in the MPs' register of pecuniary interests, due out next
month.

Mr Jones said he was "a little surprised" to get money from
Sir Wira, who has longstanding links with the National Party.

He briefly paused before accepting because of how it might
look to the public and the Labour Party.

"But after a nanosecond, I never gave it any more thought.
I'm sure it will raise a few eyebrows, but that's Maoris and
parties for you."

He and Sir Wira were not close friends, although they they
had served together on the Fisheries Commission for a short
time.

He did not know if Ms Parata knew about the donation.

"I think Wira has always had peripheral vision and he's
always been pro-Maori in all his endeavours. Although that
makes him, for a brief period of time, a benefactor, it
doesn't mean Hekia is in any way my benefactrix."

Prime Minister John Key was taken by surprise when told last
night of Sir Wira's donation, initially responding, "You're
joking".

"I'm somewhere between surprised and shocked," he said.

"Sir Wira has had a long-term desire to see Maori succeed
into leadership positions.

"I can only guess that was his motivation, rather than
support for the Labour Party."

Sir Wira told the Herald he gave the money because he
believed it was important to encourage Maori leadership. His
support for National had not changed.

He had not told Ms Parata about the donation and she found
out about it only last night. It had caused some upset to her
and he had apologised.

"I gave it from a Maori context and I didn't think, 'Shane is
going for the Labour leadership, or is opposed to National or
he's an opponent of my wife's in the House'.

"I did what I've always done, and that is support Maori
leadership.

"While I'm a political animal in the sense I'm a National
Party supporter, I'm more driven by kaupapa Maori. I know
what campaigns cost and it's not a cheap thing to do. So I
just decided to do it and I did it."

Mr Jones is known for his strong pro-mining stance in Labour
but said he had never met Mr Finlay before his cash offer.

He is now Labour's economic development spokesman and has a
leading role in forming the party's mining policy. He denied
the donation would have any effect on that or that it had
prompted his attacks on the Green Party, saying his views on
mining were longstanding and he had always been critical of
the Greens' position.

Mr Finlay had not indicated he had any expectations.

"The thing he mostly spoke to me about was the importance of
biculturalism, and someone who could be straight up and talk
about Pakeha things to Maori and Maori things to Pakeha."

Mr Jones said money left over from his campaign totalled more
than $1000, and was given to the Labour Party, as required by
its rules.

The MPs' annual register of pecuniary interests is to be
released next month and Labour leader David Cunliffe's entry
is expected to include leadership campaign donations made to
the trust he used to take donations to avoid disclosing them
to the party.

Shane Jones' backers:

Sir Wira Gardiner: donated $1000

* Husband of National Party Cabinet minister Hekia Parata

* Former National Party Maori vice-president, and ran for
president in 2009

* Fix-it man for National and Labour governments

* Labour used him for the foreshore and seabed hui and as
facilitator for the Treelords settlement.